


Working From Home

by jennyjam



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, But it's mostly crack and fluff, Corporate Ben Solo, F/M, Implied Smut, JJ Abrams Can Suck It, Neighbor Rey, POV Ben Solo, Rated T for swearing, Rian Johnson is BAE, Then I got angsty about TROS, This started as fluff, but no actual smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23678620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennyjam/pseuds/jennyjam
Summary: Ben Solo's company has transitioned to "work from home" mode in light of the current pandemic. A company-wide email encourages employees to check in regularly with their supervisors about their productivity. Ben prides himself on being an efficient rule follower. His entries to his supervisor and best friend Poe are detailed below.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 80
Kudos: 141





	Working From Home

**Author's Note:**

> There are TWO amazing moodboards for this fic! I have truly been blessed by my group chat. Thank you ReyReySolo and SheWalksInBeauty26 for these adorable and amazing boards!

  
  


Ben Solo's company has transitioned to work-from-home (WFH) mode in light of the current pandemic. A company-wide email encourages employees to check in regularly with their supervisors about their productivity. Ben prides himself on being an efficient rule follower. His entries to his supervisor and best friend Poe Dameron are detailed below.

**Ben Solo - Day 1 WFH:** Got my desk all set up. Hopefully I grabbed everything from the office that I’ll need for the next couple weeks or so. Looking forward to making the most efficient use of my time.

**Day 2 WFH:** Wow, today was really productive. Plus I got to drink my own coffee instead of the shit that Hugs makes in the office. This WFH stuff may not be too bad.

**Day 3 WFH:** Thinking about converting my desk to a standing desk. I thought I had a good office chair but may need to invest in an upgrade.

Ben's text alert chimes after sending in his daily summary.

 **Poe:** Why are you texting me these daily updates

 **Ben:** As my supervisor, I thought you’d be interested in my daily work flow? Didn’t the company memo say to keep supervisors advised?

 **Poe:** Ben I really don’t care what you do all day. Just get your shit done and leave me alone.

 **Ben:** Noted.

**Day 4 WFH:** Supervisor requested more detailed daily summaries. I will do my best to accommodate him. Today I completed paperwork for the Johnson project, two days ahead of schedule. I also streamlined my inbox and made another excellent pot of coffee. I’m going to take advantage of this extra time by going to the grocery. Hopefully they will have toilet paper, as I am dangerously low. 

**UPDATE:** Toilet paper acquired. Bumped into my neighbor at the grocery store. She was only buying Prosecco and orange juice. When I inquired about it, she emphasized how much she loves brunch. She smiled a lot and I introduced myself.

**Poe:** I really don’t need these updates Ben...But congrats on talking to a woman and not making an idiot of yourself.

**Day 5 WFH:** Supervisor sent enthusiastic positive feedback regarding my daily summaries, so I will continue to be thorough in my updates. Participated in our zoom staff meeting this morning, where only 40% of the time allotted was spent on telling people to mute their mics or getting people’s streams set up correctly. I did not yell at my coworkers. Marking this as a success. Started on revisions for the Johnson project. It’s wrapping up really nicely, and I think it will be a great project to feature on the company website. Anticipate its completion by Tuesday. 

**Day 6 WFH:** Attended the department head meeting this morning via zoom, which was much more successful than the all-department meeting last week. Hopefully our zoom-literacy is increasing company-wide and it will be a helpful tool rather than a hindrance to productivity. Consulted with new client about upcoming project, which will be referred to as the Abrams project. New client seems hopeful and excited about the new venture but is not sure about several of the major details. I scheduled more meetings to help him flesh out his ideas so that we may have a clear picture of what he needs from us moving forward. 

**Poe:** Ben. Stop with the updates. Seriously.

**Day 7 WFH:** After discussing these updates with my supervisor, we have agreed that they are both useful and necessary. I will be contacting other department heads (i.e., Tico, Storm, and Connix) and encouraging them to send Director Poe similar reports. Daily updates seem the most efficient, but I will not discourage them if they want to send updates throughout the day (morning, midday, and end-of-day). It may be that each department may need to set their own update schedule according to its needs. Aside from these developments, I also made a new type of coffee that Tico sent me in a ticktock video. It was delicious but time consuming. Not sure if I will make it like that again.

**Poe:** WHY SOLO. Why did you have to put this idea in their heads? Your updates are bad enough! Connix is texting me every 30 minutes and sometimes it’s just a weird emoji storm that I do not understand.

 **Poe:** Also, did you just call it “ticktock?” I’m older than you and even I know what tiktok is. 

**Ben:** Ok boomer. 

**Ben:** Update. Cute neighbor needed sugar. She seemed disappointed when I handed her my canister of sugar. 

**Poe:** Dude. You’re an idiot.

 **Ben:**??

 **Poe:** Grocery stores are still open. I don’t think that’s the type of sugar she was hoping for.

 **Ben:** Well I didn’t have brown sugar.

 **Poe:** …

**Day 8 WFH:** Met again with client regarding the Abrams project. He is pulling in ideas from a similar project from several years ago, some of which will work, and some of which are repetitive. I’m not sure what his vision for this project is. It’s very frustrating going from an organized and insightful project like the Johnson project to this. Hopefully we can make it work. I will be asking for assistance from other department heads in streamlining the client’s ideas. 

**Day 9 WFH:** Had to go into the office today to pull records for the Abrams project. It continues to be a frustrating project, but I don’t want to back out on commitments. As a heads up, this project may not be my best work, but I’m doing what I can with the client materials. 

**Day 10 WFH:** Stress management is getting difficult. I hate the new project. I could do better if held hostage in my closet. Tico’s ideas for improving the project were completely disregarded by the client. It frustrates me to see a colleague’s talent and input brushed aside. 

**Poe:** I’m hearing complaints from several departments about this new client. Apparently he did the same to Finn that he did to Rose. I’m not happy with it, but the CEO insists we carry on with the project. Just do what you can to get it taken care of. 

**Poe:** Have you gotten out of your apartment much this week? Why don’t you go for a walk?

 **Ben:** Yeah, that’s a good idea. Thanks, man. 

**Ben:** UPDATE. I ran into the cute neighbor. Literally. Ran into her. I was looking down at my phone and completely blitzed her at the mailboxes. 

**Poe:** Dude! Is she hurt? You’re a fucking redwood, man. Gotta watch where you’re going. 

**Ben:** No, she’s okay. I kind of caught her. Though she may have been knocked out of breath because she was totally red in the face when I helped her up. 

**Poe:** ...you mean she was blushing?

 **Ben:** What? No! At least I don’t think so?

 **Poe:** Wait. This is the same girl who was flirting with you in the grocery store, right?

 **Ben:** Flirting? No. No, she’s gorgeous. Way out of my league. 

**Ben:** She did say something weird though. She asked when I was coming over for brunch. 

**Poe:** Why is that weird?

 **Ben:** She doesn’t even know me. We’ve just run into each other a few times. She mentioned brunch at the grocery store, but why would she ask me about brunch?

 **Poe:** Dude. You’re completely hopeless. Like seriously. How are you this intelligent and this dumb at the same time?

 **Ben:** What are you talking about?

 **Poe:** SHE. LIKES. YOU. She flirted with you at the grocery. She asked you for SUGAR. SHE INVITED YOU OVER FOR BRUNCH. SHE IS LITERALLY ASKING YOU OUT. 

**Ben:** …

 **Ben:** …

 **Ben:** … oh shit. I’m an idiot. What do I do?

 **Poe:** Are you at home now?

 **Ben:** No, I’m doing what my supervisor recommended and going for a walk. I can be home in about 10 minutes though. 

**Poe:** Okay. How do you look?

 **Ben:** What?

 **Poe:** How do you look? What are you wearing? 

**Ben:** Uh, jeans and a henley? Black leather jacket. The one my mom got me last year. 

**Poe:** Okay, not terrible. Good. I was afraid you’d gone full slob being at home all the time.

 **Ben:** Poe. When have you ever known me to be a slob?

 **Poe:** Fair point. Okay. When you get home, check your hair. Do that thing where you run your hand through it. Women at the office always talk about your hair.

 **Ben:** Wait, what? Women talk about me?

 **Poe:** Geez, your obliviousness is a conversation for another day. This is triage. Okay. So fix your hair then just go over and say that you’d love to join her for brunch when she’s free.

 **Ben:** I don’t know if I can do this. What if she says no? What if she laughs in my face?

 **Poe:** Ben. Man. Pull yourself together. She has already asked you out. You’ll be fine. 

**Ben:** Okay, I’m almost to the building. Wish me luck.

 **Poe:** Go get her, tiger.

**Poe:** Ben? You’ve been annoying me to no end with updates, and it’s been two days of radio silence. What did she say? 

**Poe:** Hello?

 **Poe:** Did she murder you?! Or did you die of shame after botching it?

**Poe:** If I don’t hear from you, I’m gonna sic Connix on you.

 **Ben:** I’m alive. Been busy. 

**Poe:** Busy?? What does that mean?? As in gettin’ busy??

 **Poe:** Ben?

 **Poe:** FINE. I’m scheduling a meeting for first thing tomorrow morning. We need to discuss your WFH updates. 

_*Ben Solo has submitted a PTO request for Monday, April 6th, 2020. Supervisor approval needed.*_

**Poe:** BEN SOLO, YOU COWARD. I need an explanation to approve this PTO request. 

**Ben:** FINE. But then please stop texting me. I accepted her brunch invitation, and, while I was there, she needed help flipping her mattress. And then reaching something on top of the refrigerator. And hanging shelves. And fixing her ceiling fan. Then she cooked me dinner to say thank you. And I stayed for a movie...and I’m still here now. 

**Poe:** You’ve been at her apartment for the past 48 hours?

 **Ben:** ...yes?

 **Poe:** Dude, fucking finally! Take the day off. I’ll pass Abrams off to Hugs for your meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Enjoy man. 

**Ben:** Thanks. I really like her. She’s like a breath of fresh air. And completely oblivious to the fact that she’s too good for me.

**Ben:** UPDATE: Turns out I do like mimosas with brunch. 

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHHHHH MY FIRST REAL FIC ON AO3! Thank you for reading! The idea for this fic was based on a couple of my favorite microfics for the #reylomicrofic challenge in March 2020. 
> 
> Thank you to ReyReySolo and SheWalksInBeauty26 for the beta, and thank you to JenfysNest for the encouragement and answering questions about posting to AO3. Also I would not be writing my own fic without the cheerleading from my filthy ABO group chat - I love you all so much! Lastly, thank you to Jez and the amazing #reylomicrofic community. You all are such an inspiration, and your feedback on my microfics meant the world to me!


End file.
